Migrating Windows 10 to a SSD

gtw1212 · 28 Oct 2016 at 16:16

Is there any way to migrate Windows 10 from a 1TB HDD to a 256GB SSD without any data loss and without having to delete a ton of stuff off of my HDD until it's got less than 256GB to then copy?

Every program I've found so far copies everything from 1 drive to another but that's just not possible for me as my HDD has ~900GB of data on it but my new SSD coming has only 256GB

So is there any way to copy only the OS?

Many thanks.

KIA · 28 Oct 2016 at 17:31

Yes, but it could be messy.

https://www.paragon-software.com/technologies/components/migrate-OS-to-SSD/

gtw1212 · 28 Oct 2016 at 17:41

KIA said:
Yes, but it could be messy.

https://www.paragon-software.com/technologies/components/migrate-OS-to-SSD/

A quick search around the web has showed that this software is a bit miss or miss.

Can I not just do a complete windows new install somehow onto the SSD then just make my PC boot from that version of windows instead of the one on my HDD?

ED209 · 28 Oct 2016 at 21:09

Best thing to do is download the Windows 10 tool from here

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

create a bootable DVD or USB stick.

Make sure your sata ports are set to AHCI and not IDE in the bios before installing windows.

Once done disonnect the HDD and only leave the SSD connected and then boot from the DVD or USB you created using the tool above. Windows has a habbit of storing file on the HDD during install when connected which is why I say to disconnect the HDD completely to stop this.

Skip the stages where it asks for the product key and windows should activate once online.

Connect the HDD back up and make sure the BIOS is booting from the SSD and not the HDD, you should then be able to access all the data on the HDD or remove anything you no longer need\want as this can be used for storage instead

TonyM19 · 30 Oct 2016 at 20:50

Just jumping on on this one as I'm about to have a go at this during the week. Once you've got everything working and Windows is booting from the SSD, what exactly from the Windows install on the HDD do I actually need to keep?

gtw1212 · 31 Oct 2016 at 00:25

TonyM19 said:
Just jumping on on this one as I'm about to have a go at this during the week. Once you've got everything working and Windows is booting from the SSD, what exactly from the Windows install on the HDD do I actually need to keep?

Good question. I hope someone can answer it for us.

trentlad · 31 Oct 2016 at 04:40

Your old HDD should just be disconnected until you confirm everything is working. If you take an image then you can just reformat the old HDD and reconnect it.

Macrium Reflect is free and you can take an image of your harddrive and try to restore it onto the SSD.

I know you're adamant you want to do this but it's really not recommended, I still don't even know if it's possible and you'll need match IDE or AHCI modes. SSDs are best in AHCI.

You'd be wise to maintain your system correctly by storing your data and games on a separate harddrive/partition so that your OS remains on its own partition. This way if your instillation of Windows encounters problems you can reinstall/restore without a single issue. In fact, it's wise to take an image of your OS only drive/partition after Windows 10 has been fresh installed and updated with drivers and OS packages. That way restore takes 10 minutes and you have a completely fresh copy of Windows ready to go no matter what issues you encounter.

EDIT: Corrected to IDE

gtw1212 · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:50

trentlad said:
Your old HDD should just be disconnected until you confirm everything is working. If you take an image then you can just reformat the old HDD and reconnect it.

Macrium Reflect is free and you can take an image of your harddrive and try to restore it onto the SSD.

I know you're adamant you want to do this but it's really not recommended, I still don't even know if it's possible and you'll need match DMI or AHCI modes. SSDs are best in AHCI.

You'd be wise to maintain your system correctly by storing your data and games on a separate harddrive/partition so that your OS remains on its own partition. This way if your instillation of Windows encounters problems you can reinstall/restore without a single issue. In fact, it's wise to take an image of your OS only drive/partition after Windows 10 has been fresh installed and updated with drivers and OS packages. That way restore takes 10 minutes and you have a completely fresh copy of Windows ready to go no matter what issues you encounter.

*and you'll need match DMI or AHCI modes. SSDs are best in AHCI.*

Sorry, i'm a bit of a noob at this, can you ELI5 this for me?

trentlad · 31 Oct 2016 at 21:52

Here you go, fast forward to 7:00 and that will show you how to enable AHCI.

gtw1212 · 1 Nov 2016 at 02:43

trentlad said:
Here you go, fast forward to 7:00 and that will show you how to enable AHCI.

Thanks dude

Rannoch · 1 Nov 2016 at 21:41

Macrium Reflect, did a job like yours today,

gtw1212 · 3 Nov 2016 at 00:29

Vargas said:
Macrium Reflect, did a job like yours today,

How does it work?

trentlad · 3 Nov 2016 at 04:26

Hehe. This should show you everything you need to know.

gtw1212 · 3 Nov 2016 at 17:18

Ok, I'm still really confused by all this as people are explaining how to do it but also warning me.

If it's not really safe to just transfer the OS to the SSD, what is the best and safest way to do this?

Is it best to move as much of my data from my 1TB HDD to an external drive, then clone my HDD onto my SSD once it has below 256gb of data on it?

Can someone please tell me the best way to install my SSD and have windows 10 boot from it?

linktoinsanity · 4 Nov 2016 at 09:00

gtw1212 said:
Can someone please tell me the best way to install my SSD and have windows 10 boot from it?

The simplest and least convoluted way would be:

1. Use the Windows 10 Media Tool to download Windows 10 onto USB.
2. Unplug old hard drive
3. Plug in SSD
4. Boot from USB and install Windows 10
5. Plug in old Hard drive as a secondary.
6. Delete Windows 10 folders from hard drive once you are happy.

TonyM19 · 4 Nov 2016 at 10:30

Hi

Does it matter if the mode is still set to AHCI once the old secondary HDD is plugged back in?

linktoinsanity · 4 Nov 2016 at 11:34

TonyM19 said:
Hi

Does it matter if the mode is still set to AHCI once the old secondary HDD is plugged back in?

No, it will work fine, it would only become an issue if the machine tried to boot from it.

TonyM19 · 4 Nov 2016 at 12:12

Thank you.

Going to try it right now!

TonyM19 · 4 Nov 2016 at 14:21

Everything seems to have gone OK BUT I didn't set the mode to AHCI before installing Windows (because I'm a halfwit). Can I just change it now in the BIOS or will I have to reinstall Windows on the SSD ?

TonyM19 · 4 Nov 2016 at 15:02

All good now. Used this fix (found it on Toms Hardware

Yes there is a way on WIN 10 also ! Go into BIOS set the SATA mode to IDE and boot into system.

Start REGEDIT and look for this line :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\StartOverride

Change the 0 DWORD value from 3 to 0.

Reboot, and change your SATA controller to AHCI in BIOS. Now let it boot into safe mode, WIN 10 will install required drivers for AHCI.

Now with a normal boot you will boot into Windows with AHCI drivers.

Note : OEMs suggest reinstalling rather than changing, especially with an SSD.

You stand the chance of loosing your install if something goes wrong, and different systems may behave differently.

Not Recommended for Windows 7.

My old HDD isn't an option when I'm setting boot priorities (not that I want to boot from it mind), but I can see and use it fine in Explorer. The difference in booting up speed is amazing. Just wish I'd bought a bigger SSD now.